Benjamin Chad Leslie, 40, of Spring Valley, Filmore County, Minnesota, United States was recently arrested in Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota. Spring Valley and Rochester are around 28 miles away from each other.
Who is Benjamin Leslie?
On August 4, 2024, Leslie allegedly messaged someone online. The latter told the former she was 14 years old.
Unbeknownst to Leslie, he was communicating with a Pope County, Minnesota undercover officer posing as a child. On September 10, 2024, the officer texted the Spring Valley man that she would be at a hotel in Rochester on September 13, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Rochester Police Department was conducting a proactive undercover operation at a business in Rochester. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office and the police department of Buffalo, Wright County, Minnesota assisted in the operation targeting online offenders trying to solicit minors for sex acts.
As part of the operation, investigators created online advertisements showing a female offering sexual acts or services in exchange for money. On September 12, 2024, the Rochester Police Department activated the advertisements by posting them on websites where people usually go to pay for sex.
On September 13, 2024, the investigators posed as minors and used online platforms to chat with people who responded to the advertisements. They identified the people messaging the undercover chatter.
That day, Leslie went to the hotel in Rochester where he thought he was going to meet an underage girl. The Rochester Police Department partnered with the Pope County Sheriff’s Office on the investigation and arrest of the Spring Valley man.
Leslie was charged with solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual conduct. He and the three other suspects were booked into the Olmsted County Jail in Rochester.
CONAN Daily 